106
   

WA2K Radio is now on the air

 
 
dyslexia
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 10:55 am
I'm goin' where them chilly winds don't blow. Gonna find a true love. That is where I want to go.
Out where them chilly winds don't blow.

Sing your song, sing it soft and low. Sing it for your baby and then I'll have to go. Out where them chilly winds don't blow

Wish I was a headlight on a west bound train. I'd shine my light on cool Colorado range
Out where them chilly winds don't blow.

If you're feelin' lonely, if you're feelin' low. Remember that I loved you more than you will ever know.
Goin' where them chilly winds don't blow.

[Chorus]

I'm leavin' in the springtime, won't be back till fall. If I can forget you, I might not come back at all.
Out where them chilly winds don't blow.
0 Replies
 
Letty
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 11:02 am
Heh! heh! Love it, hamburger, just don't head to the southern U.S. cause you will be doing a different kind of twist. Tornados have killed at leas 20 people, and a school bus carrying a sports group of kids who were heading for Florida plunged off a ramp. Very, very disconcerting, buddy.

Just one reminder in this particular picture:

http://stb.msn.com/i/BD/E258AB2985E54D74F7E82FF6A0B1.jpg

Hey, cowboy. Don't head for them Georgia pines, 'cause you'll shiver when the cold wind blows. That song has been a bit of a cryptic thing as well, folks. I need to check on the background once again.
0 Replies
 
bobsmythhawk
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 11:22 am
Dr. Seuss
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Born March 2, 1904
Springfield, Massachusetts, USA
Died September 24, 1991 (aged 87)
La Jolla, California, USA

Theodor Seuss Geisel (March 2, 1904 - September 24, 1991) was a famous American writer and cartoonist best known for his classic children's books under the pen name Dr. Seuss, including The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. His books have become staples for many children and their parents. Seuss' trademark was his rhyming text and outlandish creatures. He also wrote under the pseudonym Theo. LeSieg. He wrote and illustrated 48 children's books.





Life and work

Geisel was born on March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Ted's father was a parks commissioner in charge of a huge park that included within its borders a zoo and was located three blocks from the library. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1925, where he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon and Casque and Gauntlet, and wrote for the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern humor magazine. Even at this early stage, Geisel had started using the pen name "Dr. Seuss", as well as his own name. His first work signed as "Dr. Seuss" appeared six months into his work for Judge (a humor magazine). Seuss was his mother's maiden name. Being an immigrant from Germany, she would have pronounced it more or less as "zoice", the standard pronunciation in German (according to Censuses, his mother was born in Massachusetts, and it was her parents who were the immigrants). Alexander Liang, who served with Geisel on the staff of the Jack-O- Lantern and was later a professor at Dartmouth, illustrated this point with the following Seuss-esque rhyme:

You're wrong as the deuce
And you shouldn't rejoice
If you're calling him Seuss.
He pronounces it Soice.

Though Geisel himself has been quoted as saying "Seuss -- rhymes with voice", the name is almost universally pronounced in English with an initial s sound and rhyming with "juice".[1] Geisel also used the pen name Theo. LeSieg (Geisel spelled backwards) for books he wrote but others illustrated.

He entered Lincoln College, Oxford, intending to earn a doctorate in literature. At Oxford he met Helen Palmer, married her in 1927, and returned to the United States without earning the degree. The "Dr." in his pen name is an acknowledgment of his father's unfulfilled hopes that Seuss would earn a doctorate at Oxford.

He began submitting humorous articles and illustrations to Judge, The Saturday Evening Post, Life, Vanity Fair, and Liberty. One notable "Technocracy Number" made fun of Technocracy, Inc. and featured satirical rhymes at the expense of Frederick Soddy. He became nationally famous from his advertisements for Flit, a common insecticide at the time. His slogan, "Quick, Henry, the Flit!" became a popular catchphrase. Geisel supported himself and his wife through the Great Depression by drawing advertising for General Electric, NBC, Standard Oil, and many other companies. He also wrote and drew a short-lived comic strip called Hejji in 1935.

In 1937, while Seuss was again on an ocean voyage to Europe, the rhythm of the ship's engines inspired the poem that became his first book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. Seuss wrote three more children's books before World War II (see list of works below), two of which are, atypically for him, in prose.

As World War II began, Dr. Seuss turned to political cartoons, drawing over 400 in two years as editorial cartoonist for the left-wing New York City daily newspaper, PM. Dr. Seuss's political cartoons opposed the viciousness of Hitler and Mussolini and were highly critical of isolationists, most notably Charles Lindbergh, who opposed American entry into the war. Some cartoons depicted all Japanese Americans as latent traitors or fifth-columnists, while at the same time other cartoons deplored the racism at home against Jews and blacks that harmed the war effort. His cartoons were strongly supportive of President Roosevelt's conduct of the war, combining the usual exhortations to ration and contribute to the war effort with frequent attacks on Congress (especially the Republican Party), parts of the press (such as the New York Daily News and Chicago Tribune), and others for criticism of Roosevelt, criticism of aid to the Soviet Union, investigation of suspected Communists, and other offenses that he depicted as leading to disunity and helping the Nazis, intentionally or inadvertently. In 1942, Dr. Seuss turned his energies to direct support of the U.S. war effort. First, he worked drawing posters for the Treasury Department and the War Production Board. Then, in 1943, he joined the Army and was commander of the Animation Dept of the First Motion Picture Unit of the United States Army Air Forces, where he wrote films that included Your Job in Germany, a 1945 propaganda film about peace in Europe after World War II, Design for Death, a study of Japanese culture that won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1947, and the Private Snafu series of adult army training films. While in the Army, he was awarded the Legion of Merit. Dr. Seuss's non-military films from around this time were also well-received; Gerald McBoing-Boing won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Animated) in 1950.

Despite his numerous awards, Dr. Seuss never won the Caldecott Medal nor the Newbery. Three of his titles were chosen as Caldecott runners-up (now referred to as Caldecott Honor books): McElligot's Pool (1947), Bartholomew and the Oobleck (1949), and If I Ran the Zoo (1950).

After the war, Dr. Seuss and his wife moved to La Jolla, California. Returning to children's books, he wrote what many consider to be his finest works, including such favorites as If I Ran the Zoo, (1950), Scrambled Eggs Super! (1953), On Beyond Zebra! (1955), If I Ran the Circus (1956), and How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957).

At the same time, an important development occurred that influenced much of Seuss's later work. In May 1954, Life magazine published a report on illiteracy among school children, which concluded that children were not learning to read because their books were boring. Accordingly, Seuss's publisher made up a list of 400 words he felt were important and asked Dr. Seuss to cut the list to 250 words and write a book using only those words. Nine months later, Seuss, using 220 of the words given to him, completed The Cat in the Hat. This book was a tour de force?-it retained the drawing style, verse rhythms, and all the imaginative power of Seuss's earlier works, but because of its simplified vocabulary could be read by beginning readers. A rumor exists, that in 1960, Bennett Cerf bet Dr. Seuss $50 that he couldn't write an entire book using only fifty words. The result was supposedly Green Eggs and Ham. The additional rumor that Cerf never paid Seuss the $50 has never been proven and is most likely untrue. These books achieved significant international success and remain very popular.

Dr. Seuss went on to write many other children's books, both in his new simplified-vocabulary manner (sold as "Beginner Books") and in his older, more elaborate style. In 1982 Dr. Seuss wrote "Hunches in Bunches". The Beginner Books were not easy for Seuss, and reportedly he labored for months crafting them.

At various times Seuss also wrote books for adults that used the same style of verse and pictures: The Seven Lady Godivas; Oh, The Places You'll Go!; and You're Only Old Once.

During a very difficult illness, Dr. Seuss' wife, Helen Palmer Geisel, committed suicide on October 23, 1967. Seuss married Audrey Stone Dimond on June 21, 1968. Seuss himself died, following several years of illness, in La Jolla, California on September 24, 1991.

In 2002, the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden opened in his birthplace of Springfield, Massachusetts; it features sculptures of Dr. Seuss and of many of his characters.

Today, many people view Dr. Seuss as one of the greatest children's book writers of all time.


Poetic meters

Dr. Seuss wrote most of his books in a verse form that in the terminology of metrics would be characterized as anapestic tetrameter, a meter employed also by Lord Byron and other poets of the English literary canon. (It is also the meter of the famous Christmas poem A Visit From St. Nicholas.) Abstractly, anapestic tetrameter consists of four rhythmic units (anapests), each composed of two weak beats followed by one strong, schematized below:

x x X x x X x x X x x X
Often, the first weak syllable is omitted, or an additional weak syllable is added at the end. A typical line (the first line of If I Ran the Circus) is:

In ALL the whole TOWN the most WONderful SPOT
Seuss generally maintained this meter quite strictly, until late in his career, when he was no longer able to maintain strict rhythm in all lines. The consistency of his meter was one of his hallmarks; the many imitators and parodists of Seuss are often unable to write in strict anapestic tetrameter, or are unaware that they should, and thus sound clumsy in comparison with the original.

Seuss also wrote verse in trochaic tetrameter, an arrangement of four units each with a strong followed by a weak beat.

X x X x X x X x
An example is the title (and first line) of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. The formula for trochaic meter permits the final weak position in the line to be omitted, which facilitates the construction of rhymes.

Seuss generally maintained trochaic meter only for brief passages, and for longer stretches typically mixed it with iambic tetrameter:

x X x X x X x X
which is easier to write. Thus, for example, the magicians in Bartholomew and the Oobleck make their first appearance chanting in trochees (thus resembling the witches of Shakespeare's Macbeth):

Shuffle, duffle, muzzle, muff
then switch to iambs for the oobleck spell:

Go make the oobleck tumble down
On every street, in every town!
In Green Eggs and Ham, Sam-I-Am generally speaks in trochees, and the exasperated character he proselytizes replies in iambs.

While most of Seuss's books are either uniformly anapestic or iambic-trochaic, a few mix triple and double rhythms. Thus, for instance, Happy Birthday to You is generally written in anapestic tetrameter, but breaks into iambo-trochaic meter for the "Dr. Derring's singing herrings" and "Who-Bubs" episodes.


Artwork

Seuss's earlier artwork often employed the shaded texture of pencil drawings or watercolors, but in children's books of the postwar period he generally employed the starker medium of pen and ink, normally using just black, white, and one or two colors. Later books such as The Lorax used more colors.

Seuss's figures are often rounded and somewhat droopy. This is true, for instance, of the faces of the Grinch and of the Cat in the Hat. It is also true of virtually all buildings and machinery that Seuss drew: although these objects abound in straight lines in real life, Seuss carefully avoided straight lines in drawing them (in fact, he never drew a completely straight line at any part of any of his works). For buildings, this could be accomplished in part through choice of architecture. For machines, for example, If I Ran the Circus includes a droopy hoisting crane and a droopy steam calliope.

Seuss evidently enjoyed drawing architecturally elaborate objects. His endlessly varied (but never rectilinear) palaces, ramps, platforms, and free-standing stairways are among his most evocative creations. Seuss also drew elaborate imaginary machines, of which the Audio-Telly-O-Tally-O-Count, from Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book, is one example. Seuss also liked drawing outlandish arrangements of feathers or fur, for example, the 500th hat of Bartholomew Cubbins, the tail of Gertrude McFuzz, and the pet for girls who like to brush and comb, in One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

Seuss's images often convey motion vividly. He was fond of a sort of "voilà" gesture, in which the hand flips outward, spreading the fingers slightly backward with the thumb up; this is done by Ish, for instance, in One Fish, Two Fish when he creates fish (who perform the gesture themselves with their fins), in the introduction of the various acts of If I Ran the Circus, and in the introduction of the Little Cats in The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. He was also fond of drawing hands with interlocked fingers, which looked as though the character was twiddling their thumbs.

Seuss also follows the cartoon tradition of showing motion with lines, for instance in the sweeping lines that accompany Sneelock's final dive in If I Ran the Circus. Cartoonist's lines are also used to illustrate the action of the senses (sight, smell, and hearing) in The Big Brag and even of thought, as in the moment when the Grinch conceives his awful idea.


Recurring images

Seuss's early work in advertising and editorial cartooning produced sketches that received more perfect realization later on in the children's books. Often, the expressive use to which Seuss put an image later on was quite different from the original. The examples below are from the website of the Mandeville Special Collections Library of the University of California, San Diego.

An editorial cartoon of July 16, 1941 depicts a whale resting on the top of a mountain, as a parody of American isolationists, especially Charles Lindbergh. This was later rendered (with no apparent political content) as the Wumbus of On Beyond Zebra (1955). Seussian whales (cheerful and balloon-shaped, with long eyelashes) also occur in McElligot's Pool, If I Ran the Circus, and other books.
Another editorial cartoon from 1941 shows a long cow with many legs and udders, representing the conquered nations of Europe being milked by Adolf Hitler. This later became the Umbus of On Beyond Zebra.
The tower of turtles in this editorial cartoon from 1941 prefigures a similar tower in Yertle the Turtle'. This theme also appeared in a Judge cartoon as one letter of a hieroglypic message, and in Seuss's short-lived comic strip Hejji.
Little cats A B and C (as well as the rest of the alphabet) who spring from each other's hats appeared in a Ford ad.
The connected beards in "Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?" crop up all over the place in Seuss's work, most notably in Hejii, which featured two goats joined at the beard, "The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T," which featured two roller-skating guards joined at the beard, and a political cartoon in which Nazism and the America First movement are portrayed as "the men with the Siamese Beard."
Seuss's earliest elephants were for advertising and had somewhat wrinkly ears, much as real elephants do. With And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street (1937) and Horton Hatches the Egg (1940), the ears became more stylized, somewhat like angel wings and thus appropriate to the saintly Horton. During World War II, the elephant image appeared as an emblem for India in four editorial cartoons. Horton and similar elephants appear frequently in the postwar children's books.
While drawing advertisements for Flit, Seuss became adept at drawing insects with huge stingers, shaped like a gentle S-curve and with a sharp end that included a rearward-pointing barb on its lower side. Their facial expressions depict gleeful malevolence. These insects were later rendered in an editorial cartoon as a swarm of Allied aircraft (1942), and later still as the Sneedle of On Beyond Zebra.

Adaptations of Seuss's work

For most of his career, Dr. Seuss was reluctant to have his characters marketed in contexts outside of his own books. However, he did allow a few animated cartoons, an art form in which he himself had gained experience during the Second World War.

In 1966, Seuss authorized the eminent cartoon artist Chuck Jones, his friend and former colleague from the war, to make a cartoon version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. Seuss, as "Ted Geisel", is credited as a co-producer along with Jones. This cartoon was very faithful to the original book. It is considered a classic by many to this day, and is in the large catalog of annual Christmas television specials. Several more animated specials based on Seuss' work followed, including cartoon versions of Horton Hears a Who!, The Lorax and The Cat in the Hat in 1971, but the latter was considered less successful.

Toward the end of his life, Seuss seems to have relaxed his policy, and several other cartoons and toys were made featuring his characters, usually the Cat in the Hat and the Grinch. A Soviet paint-on-glass-animated short film called Welcome was made in 1986; an adaptation of Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose. When Seuss died of cancer at the age of 87 in 1991, his widow Audrey Geisel was placed in charge of all licensing matters. She approved a live-action film version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas starring Jim Carrey, as well as a Seuss-themed Broadway musical called Seussical (both released in 2000)."The Grinch" is now in a limited engagement run on Broadway. A live-action film based on The Cat in the Hat was released in 2003, featuring Mike Myers as the title character. Audrey Geisel was said to have been very vocal in her dislike of the film, and is believed to have said there would be no further live-action adaptations of Seuss' books.[2]

Dr. Seuss' books and characters also now appear in an amusement park: the Seuss Landing 'island' at the Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando, Florida. Product tie-ins (cereal boxes, and so on) have also been implemented. To stay true to the books, there is not one single straight line in all of Seuss Landing: everything curves around.


Trivia

On the season premiere of Saturday Night Live following Dr. Seuss' death, the Reverend Jesse Jackson was a guest and declared that "Tonight, rather than read from First or Second Samuel, I read from 'Sam I Am.' Quoting the Latter Day Saint Seuss," whereupon he read Green Eggs and Ham in the style of a preacher giving an impassioned sermon.
On December 1, 1995, The University Library Building at the University of California, San Diego was renamed Geisel Library in honor of Audrey and Theodor Geisel. The Geisels were long-time residents of La Jolla, where UC San Diego is located. A sculpture of Dr. Seuss decorates the grounds of the library. Its Mandeville Special Collections Library contains many of his papers.
Dr Seuss was frequently confused, by the US Postal Service among others, with Dr Suess (cf Hans Suess) his contemporary living in the same locality, La Jolla. Both names have been posthumously linked together: The personal papers of Hans Suess are housed in the Geisel Library at UCSD [1].
Dr. Seuss was a friend and drinking partner of crime author Raymond Chandler, who was also a resident of La Jolla.
The National Education Association celebrates March 2, Dr. Seuss' Birthday, as Read Across America Day. Also known as some version of 'Read Dr. Seuss Day', some adopt the civic as well as fun responsibility to read a Dr. Seuss book to another.
Was a member of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
The new High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride at Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida lists as its last train stop on its schedule as Springfield, in honor of the birthplace of Dr. Seuss.
In November 2004, an edition of MAD Magazine (Mad #447) featured a cover story in which lines from Seuss' books were compared with supposedly similar lines from speeches made by George W. Bush. It was titled "The Strange Similarities Between the Bush Administration and the World of Dr. Seuss." The cover drawing was of a Cat in the Hat that resembled Bush.
An episode of My Life As a Teenage Robot, "Daydream Believer," is an homage to Dr Seuss cartoons.
Is often attributed with inventing the word 'nerd'.
0 Replies
 
Piffka
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 11:26 am
Well.... it's the second of March. Remember Camelot?

It's true! It's true! The crown has made it clear.
The climate must be perfect all the year.

A law was made a distant moon ago here:
July and August cannot be too hot.
And there's a legal limit to the snow here
In Camelot.
The winter is forbidden till December
And exits March the second on the dot.

By order, summer lingers through September
In Camelot.
Camelot! Camelot!
I know it sounds a bit bizarre,
But in Camelot, Camelot
That's how conditions are.
The rain may never fall till after sundown.
By eight, the morning fog must disappear.
In short, there's simply not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
In Camelot.

Camelot! Camelot!
I know it gives a person pause,
But in Camelot, Camelot
Those are the legal laws.
The snow may never slush upon the hillside.
By nine p.m. the moonlight must appear.
In short, there's simply not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
In Camelot.
0 Replies
 
bobsmythhawk
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 11:31 am
Desi Arnaz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Born March 2, 1917
Santiago, Cuba
Died December 2, 1986
Del Mar, California, U.S.
Spouse Lucille Ball, Edith Mack Hirsh

Desi Arnaz (born Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III) (March 2, 1917 - December 2, 1986) was a Cuban-American musician, actor, comedian and television producer.




Early life

He was born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba's second largest city, to a wealthy family. His ancestors had been among the recipients of the original Spanish land grants in the eighteenth century, and his father served in the Cuban House of Representatives and became the youngest mayor that Santiago had ever had. After the 1933 revolution that overthrew the American-backed President Gerardo Machado, Arnaz and his parents fled to Miami, Florida. At that time, Miami was a medium sized city with a very small Latin American population; to support themselves, the Arnaz family worked at different odd jobs.


Music career

He began his career as a professional musician in 1936, playing guitar and percussion for a Latin orchestra. He then took a pay cut to work in New York City for Xavier Cugat, his mentor, whom he later described as a world-class cheapskate but an excellent teacher. Arnaz returned to Miami six months later to lead his own combo. It was there he introduced American audiences to the Conga Line, which soon became a national rage. He formed his own orchestra and returned to New York.

Arnaz was also a successful recording artist, beginning in 1937, and had a hit with the Santeria-flavored "Babalu" (1946), his signature song, which was written by Margarita Lecuona, the cousin of famed Cuban composers Ernesto and Ernestina Lecuona, and a renowned composer in her own right. Arnaz recorded "Babalú" for RCA Victor.


Film career

In 1939, he starred on Broadway in the successful musical Too Many Girls. He then went to Hollywood to appear in the 1940 movie version at RKO, which starred actress and comedian Lucille Ball.

Arnaz appeared in several movies in the 1940s, most notably Bataan (1943). Shortly after he received his draft notice, but before he was actually inducted, he injured his knee. Although he made it through boot camp, he was eventually classified for limited service, and ended up directing U.S.O. programs at a military hospital in the San Fernando Valley. In his memoirs, he recalled discovering that the first thing soldiers requested was almost invariably a glass of cold milk, so he arranged for beautiful starlets to greet the wounded soldiers as they disembarked and pour milk for them. After leaving the Army, he formed another orchestra, which was successful in live appearances and recordings. After he became engaged in television, he kept the orchestra on his payroll throughout the period he remained an active producer.


I Love Lucy

He produced and starred in I Love Lucy, in which he played a fictitious version of himself, Cuban orchestra leader Ricky Ricardo, and starring his real-life wife, Lucille Ball, as Ricky's wife, Lucy. Television executives had been pursuing Ball to adapt her very popular radio series My Favorite Husband for television. Ball insisted on Arnaz playing her on air spouse, so the two would be able to spend more time together. The original premise was for the couple to portray Lucy & Ricky Lopez, a successful showbusiness couple (he a band leader, she an actress) whose glamorous careers interfered with their efforts to maintain a normal marriage. Market research indicated, however, that this scenario would not be popular, so Arnaz changed it to make Ricky a struggling young orchestra leader and Lucy a plain housewife with showbiz fantasies but no talent at all. The club he owned was the Copa Cabana, that he would frequntly rent out. Initially, the idea of having Ball and the distinctly Latino Arnaz portray a married couple encountered resistance, for he was told that his Cuban accent and Latin style would not be agreeable to American viewers; but the couple overcame these objections by touring together in a live vaudeville act they developed with the help of Spanish clown, Pepito Perez, and Ball's radio show writers. Much of the material from their vaudeville act was used in the original "I Love Lucy" pilot, including Lucy's memorable seal routine. [1] The pilot originally ran as the third episode of the show's first season.


Desilu Productions

With Ball, he founded Desilu Productions. At this time, most television programs were broadcast live, and as the largest markets were in New York, the rest of the country received only kinescope images (the result of placing 35 mm or 16 mm film cameras in front of a television monitor and shipping the prints to other time zones for broadcast at a later date, resulting in extremely poor quality). Arnaz developed the multicamera setup production style using adjacent sets that became the standard for all subsequent situation comedies to this day. The use of film enabled every station around the country to broadcast high-quality images of the show. Initially, Arnaz was told that it would be impossible to allow an audience onto a sound stage, but he worked with the famous cameraman Karl Freund to design a set that would accommodate an audience, allow filming and also adhere to fire and safety codes.

Network executives considered the use of film an unnecessary extravagance. Arnaz convinced them to allow Desilu to cover all additional costs associated with the filming process, under the stipulation that Desilu owned and controlled all rights to the film. Arnaz's unprecedented arrangement is widely considered to be one of the shrewdest deals in television history. As a result of his foresight, Desilu reaped the profits from all re-runs of the series.

Arnaz also pushed the network to allow them to show Lucille Ball while she was pregnant. According to Arnaz, the CBS network told him, "You cannot show a pregnant woman on television." Arnaz consulted a priest, a rabbi and a minister, all of whom told him that there would be nothing wrong with showing a pregnant Lucy or with using the word pregnant. The network finally relented and let Arnaz and Ball weave the pregnancy into the story line, but remained adamant about eschewing use of pregnant, so Arnaz substituted expecting, pronouncing it 'spectin' in his Cuban accent.

'In addition to I Love Lucy, he produced December Bride, The Texan, Make Room for Daddy, The Mothers-in-Law, The Lucy Show, Those Whiting Girls, Our Miss Brooks, and the pilot episode of The Untouchables, all Top Ten shows in their time. He is also credited with the invention of the rerun.


Beliefs

"Good taste"

Also worth noting is the firm stance Arnaz and Ball took as to "basic good taste," avoiding racial or ethnic jokes, poking fun at the handicapped, and the like. Arnaz recalled that the only exception consisted of making fun of Ricky Ricardo's accent?-and noted that even these jokes worked only when Lucy, as his wife, did the mimicking. "When Fred and Ethel made fun of Ricky's accent, they didn't get a laugh."


Patriotism

Arnaz was adamantly patriotic?-in his memoirs, the first object of thanks was the United States itself: "I know of no other country in the world," he said, in which "a sixteen-year old kid, broke and unable to speak the language," could reach the astonishing heights of success that he had. Arnaz' warm feelings towards his adopted country most likely influenced the storyline of I Love Lucy in certain subtle ways. Over the show's six-year run, the fortunes of the Ricardos closely mirror that of the archetypical 1950s American Dream: at first, they live in a tiny brownstone apartment; Ricky's fortunes continue to improve, and they move into a slightly larger one with a view after Little Ricky is born. Later, Ricky gets his big break and goes to Hollywood; shortly after returning to New York, all of them have the chance to travel through Europe, an adventure that most Americans back then could never afford. Finally, Lucy and Ricky echo the Zeitgeist of 1950s America and head for the suburbs. Fred Mertz, with his unrelenting stinginess and fears about money, symbolizes the lean years of the Depression, now a fading memory.


Marriages

Arnaz married Lucille Ball in 1940 and initiated divorce proceedings in 1944, but reconciled before the interlocutory decree became final.

He and Ball were the parents of actress Lucie Arnaz (born 1951) and actor Desi Arnaz, Jr. (born 1953).

Arnaz's marriage with Ball began to collapse under the strain of his serious problems with alcohol, drugs, and womanizing. According to his memoir, the combined pressures of managing the production company as well as supervising its day-to-day operations had greatly worsened as it grew much larger. Arnaz was also suffering from diverticulitis. He and Ball divorced in 1960; she was 49 and he was 43. When Ball returned to weekly television, she and Arnaz worked out an agreement regarding Desilu wherein she bought him out.

Three years after the divorce, Arnaz married his second wife, Edith Mack Hirsh, and greatly reduced his show business activities. He served as executive producer of The Mothers-in-Law, and during its two-year run, made a couple of very amusing guest appearances as a Spanish matador.

Although Arnaz remarried after his divorce to Ball in 1960, they remained friends. It was evident that they still loved each other very much, as they continued to speak by telephone every single night until his death. Despite the divorce, he continued to send Lucy flowers every year on their wedding anniversary, which was Nov. 30th. [June 19 was the date they were married in a church]. After their divorce, Lucille got into an accident while making a film with Bob Hope. When Arnaz heard, he rode by horse from his ranch to the hospital. Family home movies later aired in television showed Ball and Arnaz playing together with their mutual grandson, Simon (or "Simón", if Arnaz's mock protests are to be believed), short before his death.


Later life

In the 1970s, he co-hosted a week of shows with daytime TV favorite Mike Douglas. Vivian Vance appeared as a guest, and in this brief reunion viewers could see the genuine affection each had for the other. Arnaz also headlined a Kraft Music Hall special on NBC that featured his two children, with a brief appearance by Vance. To promote his autobiography, cryptically named A Book, in 1976 Arnaz served as a memorable guest host on Saturday Night Live with his son, Desi, Jr., also appearing. Arnaz played the drums and sang a song in Spanish, and also read Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky" in a heavy Cuban accent (he pronounced it "Habberwocky"). He ended the broadcast by leading the entire cast in a raucous conga line through the SNL studio.

Desi and Edith eventually moved to Del Mar, California, where he lived the rest of his life in semi-retirement. He contributed generously to charitable and non-profit organizations, including San Diego State University. Arnaz would make a guest appearance on the TV series Alice, starring Linda Lavin. This would be one of Arnaz's last television appearances remembered by American audiences.

Arnaz, a lifelong smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer in early 1986, and died from the disease on December 2, 1986, at age 69. His wife, Edith, had died previously, also from cancer. His body was cremated and his ashes scattered. A widely published photograph taken at his funeral mass shows an aged Lucille Ball emerging from the church.


Legacy

Desi Arnaz has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for contributions to motion pictures at 6327 Hollywood Boulevard, and for television at 6220 Hollywood Boulevard.
0 Replies
 
bobsmythhawk
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 11:34 am
Jennifer Jones
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Born March 2, 1919 (age 88)
Tulsa, Oklahoma,
United States
Academy Awards

Best Actress
1943 The Song of Bernadette

Jennifer Jones (born March 2, 1919) is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe-winning American actress.





Early life

Jones was born Phylis Lee Isley in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Phil Isley and Flora Mae Suber, who toured the Midwest in a traveling tent show they owned and operated. Jones attended Monte Cassino Junior College in Tulsa and Northwestern University, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, before transferring to the Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York in 1938. There she met and fell in love with fellow acting student Robert Walker and they were married on January 2, 1939 when Jones was 19 years old.

They returned to Tulsa for a 13-week radio program arranged by her father, and then headed for Hollywood. Isley landed two small roles, first in a John Wayne western titled New Frontier (1939) and later a serial, Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939). In these two films, she was billed as "Phyllis Isley" (Phyllis now spelled with two L's). However, when she and Walker failed a screen test for Paramount Pictures, they decided to return to New York City.


Career

While Walker found steady work in radio programs, Isley worked part-time work modeling hats for the Powers Agency and looked for possible acting jobs. When she learned of auditions for the lead role of Claudia in Rose Franken's hit play of the same name, she presented herself to David O. Selznick's New York office, but fled in tears after what she thought was a bad reading. Selznick, however, overheard her audition and was impressed enough to have his secretary call her back. Following an interview, she was signed to a seven-year contract.

She was carefully groomed for stardom and given her new name -- Jennifer Jones. Director King Vidor was impressed by her screen test as Bernadette Soubirous for The Song of Bernadette and she won the coveted role over hundreds of applicants. In 1944, on her 25th birthday, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as St. Bernadette. That year, Jones' new best friend, Ingrid Bergman was also a Best Actress nominee for her work in For Whom the Bell Tolls. After Jones won the award, she tried to apologize to her friend by saying, ""I apologize, Ingrid. You should have won." Bergman classily replied "No, Jennifer, your Bernadette was better than my Maria." Furthermore, Jennifer Jones presented the Best Actress Oscar the following year to Bergman for Gaslight. [1]

By this time she had divorced Robert Walker and had become Selznick's mistress (and later his wife). Selznick was a suffocating and dominating lover who became obsessed with grooming and molding Jones' career. It is suggested that Selznick's domination lead to her many suicide attempts and an increasing nervousness. During her tenure with Selznick, Jones was cast in multiple inappropriate roles in his effort to get her a second Oscar.

Over the next two decades, Jones appeared in a wide range of roles selected by Selznick. Her dark beauty and sensitive nature appealed to audiences and she projected a variable range. Her initial saintly image, as shown in her first starring role, was a stark contrast three years later when she was cast as a provocative half-breed in Selznick's controversial Duel in the Sun (1946). Other notable films included Since You Went Away (1944), Love Letters (1945), Cluny Brown (1946), Portrait of Jennie (1948), Madame Bovary (1949), We Were Strangers (1949), Carrie (1952), Ruby Gentry (1952), Indescretion of an American Wife (1953), Beat the Devil (1954), Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955), Good Morning Miss Dove (1955), The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956), and A Farewell to Arms (1957). Her leading men during this period included Charles Boyer, Gregory Peck, James Mason, John Garfield, Charlton Heston, Laurence Olivier, Montgomery Clift, Humphrey Bogart, William Holden, Robert Stack and Rock Hudson.


Private life

Jones's first marriage to Robert Walker produced two sons, Robert Walker Jr. born April 15, 1940, and Michael Walker, born March 13, 1941. Both of them became actors. The couple divorced in 1944.

Jones married Selznick on July 13, 1949, staying with him until his death on June 22, 1965. Following Selznick's death, she semi-retired from acting and appeared in only a few films. Her last appearance was a strong supporting role in The Towering Inferno (1974). Her only child with Selznick, Mary Jennifer Selznick, born August 12, 1954, committed suicide in 1976. This led to Jones' interest in mental health issues.

She married multi-millionaire industrialist, art collector and philanthropist Norton Simon on May 29, 1971, and remained married to him until his death on June 1, 1993. She is currently on the board of directors of the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena.

Jennifer Jones is a breast cancer survivor. The late actress Susan Strasberg, who died of breast cancer, was married to a fellow actor surnamed Jones, and named her only child, a daughter, Jennifer Jane Jones, after the esteemed older actress.
0 Replies
 
bobsmythhawk
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 11:41 am
Karen Carpenter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia




Background information

Birth name Karen Anne Carpenter
Born March 2, 1950
Origin New Haven, Connecticut
Died February 4, 1983
Genre(s) Pop
Years active 1969?-1983
Label(s) A&M Records
Associated
acts Carpenters
Website Richard and Karen Carpenter
Members
Richard Carpenter
Former members
Karen Carpenter

Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 in New Haven, Connecticut - February 4, 1983 in Downey, California) was a drummer and singer part of the band The Carpenters with her brother, Richard.





Early life

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, USA, (lived at 55 Hall Street, New Haven, Connecticut), Karen and her older brother Richard moved with their parents Harold Carpenter and Agnes in 1963 to the Los Angeles suburb of Downey, California. Richard had developed an interest in music at an early age, becoming a piano prodigy. The move to Southern California was intended in part to foster his budding musical career. (Southern California was and still is the home of many recording studios and record companies.)

When Karen went to Downey High School (11040 Brookshire Avenue, where an outdoor performance stage is dedicated in their honor), she did not like the gym class, so she asked Richard to ask the conductor of the band if she could substitute it for gym class. The conductor agreed to take her into the band, and gave her the glockenspiel. She did not like the glockenspiel, and upon admiring the performance of a friend who played the drums, asked the conductor if she could play the drums instead.

Drumming came naturally to Karen, and she practiced for several hours a day - her drumming can be heard in many of The Carpenters songs. When she was 17, Karen went on the "Stillman Diet" with a doctor's guidance, and lost between 20 and 25 pounds


Music career

Karen joined a band formed by her brother, Richard, called "The Richard Carpenter Trio" (1965-1968). Karen and Richard also had a friend, Wes Jacobs, a bassist and tuba player in the Richard Carpenter Trio. The jazz trio played at numerous nightclubs, a television show called "Your All American".

Karen, Richard, and other band members, including Gary Sims and John Bettis, sang as the Spectrums.

Karen Carpenter signed with A&M Records with her brother, as the Carpenters in early 1969. She sang most of the tunes on their first album, Ticket To Ride. Their only single released from that album, the title track, "Ticket To Ride", reached only to #54 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts. Their next release, "(They Long to Be) Close to You" was a certified #1 smash record. This began a long and very successful career, ending in 1983 with Karen's death.

By the mid-1970s, extensive touring and lengthy recording sessions had begun to take their toll on the duo and contributed to their professional difficulties during the latter half of the decade. Karen dieted obsessively and developed the disorder anorexia nervosa, which first manifested itself in 1975 when an exhausted and emaciated Karen was forced to cancel concert tours in the UK and Japan. Richard developed an addiction to quaaludes, which began to affect his performance in the late 1970s and led to the end of the duo's live concert appearances. On September 4, 1978 the Carpenters gave their last concert at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.


Solo Album

While Richard sought treatment for his addiction at a Topeka, Kansas facility in early 1979, Karen, who was currently at the age of 30, made a solo album with producer Phil Ramone entitled "Karen Carpenter," which she dedicated to her brother Richard.

The choice of more adult-oriented and disco/dance-tempo material represented an effort to retool her image. Arguably, her best ever performance is a song on the album by Paul Jabara and Jay Asher, called "Something's Missing (In My Life)." Many who have heard the work-lead feel it truly relates to Karen's personal struggles and depth of her feelings. The song remains unmixed and without strings.

The resulting product met a tepid response from Richard and A&M executives in early 1980, and Karen wavered in her dedication to the project. The whole album was shelved by A&M executive Herb Alpert. Karen's fans got a taste of the album in 1989 when one of its tracks, "If I Had You," turned up on the compilation album Lovelines and was also released as a single, making #18 on the Adult Contemporary chart. 16 years later in 1996, it was finally released.

There are 10 unreleased tracks from the album: eight of them are work-leads, while the remaining two are considered outtakes: "I Love Makin' Love to You," and "Truly You." When A&M Records folded in 2000, six out of the eight demos began surfacing on the Internet.


Personal life

Carpenter lived with her parents until her mid-20's, although ironically after the Carpenters became successful during the early 1970s, she and her brother bought two apartment buildings in Downey. Called "Close To You" and "Only Just Begun," the "Close To You Apartments" can still be found at 8356 East 5th, Downey, CA.

In 1976 Karen bought two Century City apartments, gutted them, and turned them into one condominium. Located at 2222 Avenue of the Stars, the doorbell chimed the first six notes of "We've Only Just Begun". As a housewarming-gift her mother gave her a collection of leather-bound classic works of literature. Karen collected Disney memorabilia, loved to play softball/baseball, and among her friends were Petula Clark, Olivia Newton-John, and Dionne Warwick.

After a whirlwind romance, on 31 August 1980 Karen married real estate developer Thomas James Burris. At the time they met, Tom was a 39-year-old divorcé with an 18-year-old son; while Karen was 30 years old. The couple were married at the Beverly Hills Hotel in the Crystal Room, and a new song performed by Karen at the ceremony, "Because We Are In Love," surfaced in 1981. The couple went to Bora Bora for their honeymoon, but the marriage turned out to be a disaster and they separated in November 1981.

The song "Now", recorded in April 1982, was the last song Karen ever recorded. Later that year Karen sought therapy with noted psychotherapist Steven Levenkron in New York City. While being treated for anorexia, a relatively unknown mental disorder at the time, she befriended recovered anorexic Cherry Boone, and crocheted a sign above her hospital bed that read "You Win, I gain!" After her recovery, she planned to go public about her battle with anorexia.

Karen returned to California later that year determined to regain her professional career and finalize her divorce. Karen had gained a total of 30 lbs. over a two-month stay in New York, but the sudden weight gain further strained her heart, which was already damaged from years of dieting and abuse. Karen, who had a normal thyroid, was taking ten times the normal daily dose of thyroid medication in order to speed up her metabolism, which combined with large amounts of laxatives (between 90 to 100 a day), weakened her heart.


Death

On February 4, 1983, at the age of 32, Karen suffered cardiac arrest at her parents' home in Downey and was taken to Downey Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead twenty minutes later. Karen was planning to sign her divorce papers on the day she died.

The autopsy stated that Karen's death was due to emetine cardiotoxicity due to anorexia nervosa. Under the anatomical summary, the first item was heart failure, with anorexia as second. The third finding was cachexia, which is extremely low weight and weakness and general body decline associated with chronic disease. Emetine cardiotoxicity implies that Karen abused ipecac syrup, an easily obtained emetic medicine that is intended for people to take who have accidentally swallowed a poisionous substance. However, there is no definite evidence to prove that Karen did abuse ipecac. (Reference Ray Coleman's: The Carpenters, The Untold Story, page 21-24)[1]

Her funeral service took place on February 8, 1983, at the Downey United Methodist Church in Downey. Karen, dressed in a rose colored suit, lay in an open white casket. Over a thousand mourners passed through to say goodbye, among them her friends Dorothy Hamill, Olivia Newton-John, Petula Clark, Cristina Ferrare, and Dionne Warwick. Karen's estranged husband Tom appeared at her funeral, and he took off his wedding band and threw it into the casket (according to the Ray Coleman Book The Carpenters: the Untold Story).


After death

Karen's death brought lasting media attention to anorexia nervosa and also to bulimia. Karen's death encouraged celebrities to go public about their eating disorders, among them Tracey Gold and Diana, Princess of Wales. Medical centers and hospitals began receiving increased contacts from people with these disorders. The general public had little knowledge of anorexia nervosa and bulimia prior to her death, making the conditions difficult to identify and treat. Her fame and her "wholesome" image may have made people reluctant to suggest the possibility that she had a problem, much less to intervene directly.

Her family started the "Karen A. Carpenter Memorial Foundation", which raised money for research on anorexia nervosa and eating disorders. Today the title has been changed to "Carpenter Family Foundation," and in addition to eating disorders, the foundation now funds the arts, entertainment and education

On October 12, 1983, the Carpenters received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It is located at 6931 Hollywood Blvd, a few yards from the Kodak Theater[2] Richard, Harold, and Agnes Carpenter attended the inauguration, as did many fans.

On December 11, 2003 Karen and her parents Agnes and Harold were exhumed from Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress, California and were moved to Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village, California. The Carpenter Private Mausoleum is a 46,000-pound, Partenope-style structure and was constructed in Texas over seven months. It is polished sunset red with beautiful warmth and color and lively crystal patterns, located in the Tranquility Gardens section of the cemetery. Similar structures at the time had a price range around $600,000. At 12:30pm PST Agnes, Karen, and Harold, who remained in their original caskets and used up 3 out of the 6 spaces in the mausoleum, were all re-interred.

"A Star on Earth - A Star in Heaven" is written on her mausoleum stone.
0 Replies
 
bobsmythhawk
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 11:45 am
Bon Jovi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia





Background information

Birth name John Francis Bongiovi
Born March 2, 1962 (age 44)
Origin Sayreville, New Jersey, USA
Genre(s) Rock
Instrument(s) vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano
Years active 1982-present
Label(s) Island Records
Associated
acts Bon Jovi
Website http://www.bonjovi.com

Jon Bon Jovi (born John Francis Bongiovi on March 2, 1962) is an American musician and actor who is the lead singer of the band Bon Jovi.








Biography

Jon Bon Jovi was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and was raised in nearby Sayreville. His mother, Carol Sharkey (of Irish/Italian descent), was a U.S. Marine as well as a Playboy Bunny and his father, John Bongiovi (born Gian Buongiovanni), also a Marine, was a barber of Italian ancestry.

John Bongiovi attended Sayreville War Memorial High School in Parlin, New Jersey, and later adopted the stage name Jon Bon Jovi at the behest of the record company that he signed with. He also plays acoustic guitar, harmonica, and rhythm guitar but makes the most of his part as lead singer. His early career was assisted by his cousin, Tony Bongiovi, a notable record producer who owned the Power Station recording studio. Jon worked as a janitor at the studio, and in periods of studio downtime recorded his own material, helped by his uncle. An album of these early recordings John Bongiovi: The Power Station Years was released in 1999.

In the late 1980s he was on tour in Tokyo, Japan. The tour was a sellout and was a successful launch of his debut album called Bon Jovi. While on this tour, there was a scandal that he was caught on a date by the local papparazzi with Jade Ward.

At one point Jon dated actress Diane Lane in the mid-80's, most likely after she filmed Streets of Fire.

Bon Jovi married Dorothea Hurley, his high school sweetheart, on April 29, 1989 in the Graceland Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada. He fathered one daughter, Stephanie Rose Bongiovi (born on May 31, 1993), and three sons, Jesse James Louis Bongiovi (born on February 19, 1995) Jacob Hurley Bongiovi (born on May 7, 2002) and Romeo Jon Bongiovi (born on March 29, 2004).

Bon Jovi made a cameo appearance in The Sims Superstar.

Bon Jovi discovered the band Cinderella in 1985, at the The Empire Rock Club in Philadelphia. They opened for Bon Jovi during the Slippery When Wet tour and Bon Jovi has remained an avid supporter of the band ever since.

Bon Jovi is a credited actor in the movies Moonlight and Valentino, The Leading Man, Destination Anywhere, Homegrown, Little City, No Looking Back, Row Your Boat, Vampires Los Muertos, U-571, Cry Wolf and National Lampoon's Pucked. He also had a supporting role in the movie Pay It Forward, where he played Helen Hunt's abusive ex-husband. His TV series appearances include Sex and the City and an extended stint on Ally McBeal, as well as a guest appearance on The West Wing.

Jon Bon Jovi can also be seen in Young Guns II with a brief uncredited role as a cowboy in a pit.

Bon Jovi's first appearance in any musical production was in the 1980 Star Wars album, Christmas in the Stars. He was the lead in singing the song, "R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas." (Credited as John Bongiovi).

Jon Bon Jovi has recorded two solo albums: Blaze of Glory (1990) and Destination Anywhere (1997) and sold over 100 million albums with the band Bon Jovi.

Jon Bon Jovi has worked on behalf of the Special Olympics, the American Red Cross, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, and other groups.

On June 15, 2001, Jon Bon Jovi addressed the Oxford Union debate society.


Bon JoviIn 2004 he became founder and owner of the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League with friend and fellow band member Richie Sambora. He appeared in several television commercials for the league. Bon Jovi has been an avid New York Giants fan his entire life.[1]

On September 21, 2005, during an appearance on her show, the Bon Jovi band donated $1,000,000 to Oprah Winfrey for her Angel Network foundation. As of 2006, this is the highest amount donated by any single celebrity on Oprah's show.

He currently lives in Middletown, New Jersey. He has donated more than $25,000 dollars to the Democratic Party.

In the 2004 presidential election, Jon Bon Jovi campaigned for Democratic nominee, John Kerry.


Jon Bon Jovi has been named the first Founding Ambassador of the Habitat for Humanity Ambassador program as part of the international-nonprofit organization's new advocacy outreach initiative. Bon Jovi has been raising awareness with Habitat for Humanity since 2005 when he provided the funds to build six homes in Philadelphia and built the homes alongside the homeowner families, as well as with members of his Philadelphia Soul Arena Football Team. The construction site also served as the video shoot location for his band's single, "Who Says You Can't Go Home." In 2006, Bon Jovi made a $1 million donation to build 28 Habitat homes in Louisiana in partnership with low-income families on the hurricane-stricken coast. Earlier this month, Bon Jovi announced a project that will rehabilitate a block of 15 homes in north Philadelphia. Bon Jovi spearheaded the groundbreaking partnership that will join Habitat for Humanity, Project H.O.M.E., Saturn and The Philadelphia Soul Charitable Foundation.


Awards

1989: American Music Award: Best Pop/Rock Band, Duo or Group; award shared with his band.
1990: Golden Globe: Best Song, Blaze of Glory (from Young Guns II soundtrack).
1990: Academy Awards: Nominated, Original Song, "Blaze of Glory" (from Young Guns II soundtrack).
1991: MTV Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award; shared with his band.
2001: Humanitarian of the Year by The Food Bank of Monmouth & Ocean Counties for his charitable work on behalf of the people of New Jersey.
2001: Honorary doctorate in Humanities degree from Monmouth University in New Jersey, for his success as an entertainer and his humanitarian work.
2004: American Music Awards: Received the Award of Merit for their long career.
2005: World Music Awards: Received the Diamond Award for sales of 100+ million albums.
2006: Inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame.
2007: Grammy for Best Country Vocal Collaboration, "Who Says You Can't Go Home?" (with Jennifer Nettles)
0 Replies
 
bobsmythhawk
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 11:50 am
A man died and went to heaven. As he stood in front of St.
Peter at the Pearly Gates, he saw a huge wall of clocks
behind him. He asked, "What are all those clocks?"

St. Peter answered, "Those are Lie-Clocks. Everyone on Earth
has a Lie-Clock. Every time you lie the hands on your clock
will move."

"Oh," said the man, "whose clock is that?"

"That's Mother Teresa's. The hands have never moved,
indicating that she never told a lie."

"Incredible," said the man. "And whose clock is that one?"

St. Peter responded, "That's Abraham Lincoln's clock. The
hands have moved twice, telling us that Abe told only two
lies in his entire
life."

"Where's Tony Blair's clock?" asked the man.

"Tony Blair's clock is in Jesus' office. He's using it as a
ceiling fan," St. Peter replied.

"Oh", replied the man, "and where is George Bush's clock?".

"That", said St. Peter, "is being used as a turbine to power
this whole place".
0 Replies
 
Letty
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 12:04 pm
Hey, hawkman. Love your clock joke, Boston. Hmmm, folks, wonder if George Washington had one that never moved. After all, he did admit to cutting down a cherry tree.

Piffka, Welcome back, and your Camelot song is great, gal. Didn't they refer to the Kennedy administration as Camelot?

As usual, we shall await our Raggedy to do the face thing, and she will love the fact that Jennifer is highlighted. Razz

From one of her movies, a lovely song as done by Nat:


A portrait of Jennie
More precious to me
Than a masterpiece
How ever famous it be

The portrait of Jennie
Is etched on my heart
Where her features
Have been sketched
From the start

All the colour
And beauty of life
And the glow of her
Spirit devine
All cast in heavens
All design

With a portrait of Jennie
I never will part
For there isn't
Any portrait of Jennie
Except in my hear-eart

For there isn't
Any portrait of Jennie
Except in my hear-eart
0 Replies
 
Raggedyaggie
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 05:36 pm
A little late, but here I am with:

Faces to match, and a Bravo to Bob for the clock joke, and a big HI to Piffka and a good evening to everyone.

http://dictionary.laborlawtalk.com/prev_wiki/images/thumb/7/73/250px-US_postal_service_dr_seuss.jpghttp://www.hispaniconline.com/hh/timeline/images/portraits/1951-desi_arnaz.gif
Very Happy http://home.hiwaay.net/~oliver/28jennie.jpghttp://www.cinetudes.com/photo/297115-369951.jpg Very Happy
http://www.usaplaza.com/City_Morgue_Gift_Shop/_files/karencarpenter.jpghttp://www.smh.com.au/ffxImage/urlpicture_id_1019441477633_2002/05/06/07entbonjovi,0.jpg
0 Replies
 
Letty
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 05:53 pm
Glad you made it, Raggedy, and we love your laughing face on either side of Jennifer, lust in the dust and all. Amazing that woman is still with us.

There's Dr. Seuss, Desi, dear Karen, and Bon Jovi? What perfect timing, folks, because I was intrigued with this song by Bon Jovi:

This is for our Noddy, because we have discussed Thomas Wolfe's "You Can't Go Home Again."

So, dear Noddy, Bon Jovi feels differently, and you're on the mend as well.

I spent 20 years trying to get out of this place
I was looking for something I couldn't replace
I was running away from the only thing I've ever known
Like a blind dog without a bone
I was a gypsy lost in the twilight zone
I hijacked a rainbow and crashed into a pot of gold
I been there, done that and I ain't lookin' back on the seeds I've sown,
Saving dimes, spending too much time on the telephone
Who says you can't go home

[Chorus]
Who says you can't go home
There's only one place they call me one of their own
Just a hometown boy, born a rolling stone, who says you can't go home
Who says you can't go back, been all around the world and as a matter of fact
There's only one place left I want to go, who says you can't go home
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, its alright

I went as far as I could, I tried to find a new face
There isn't one of these lines that I would erase
I lived a million miles of memories on that road
With every step I take I know that I'm not alone
You take the home from the boy, but not the boy from his home
These are my streets, the only life I've ever known,
who says you can't go home

[Chorus]

I been there, done thatand I ain't looking that
It's been a long long road
Feels like I never left, that's how the story goes

It doesn't matter where you are, it doesn't matter where you go
If it's a million miles aways or just a mile up the road
Take it in, take it with you when you go,
who says you can't go home

[Chorus]

It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, its alright
Who says you can't go home [x2]
0 Replies
 
hamburger
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 06:39 pm
good evening all !
here is canada's leonard cohen with a little song for you .
hope you enjoy it .
hbg

Leonard Cohen : Hey, that's no way to say goodbye
-------------------------------------------------------------
I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,
your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm,
yes, many loved before us, I know that we are not new,
in city and in forest they smiled like me and you,
but now it's come to distances and both of us must try,
your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.

I'm not looking for another as I wander in my time,
walk me to the corner, our steps will always rhyme
you know my love goes with you as your love stays with me,
it's just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea,
but let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie,
your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.

I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,
your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm,
yes many loved before us, I know that we are not new,
in city and in forest they smiled like me and you,
but let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie,
your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.
0 Replies
 
Letty
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 06:58 pm
Good evening to you, hbg. Love Leonard, of course, and an answer from Canada's Diana Krall. Razz

I Can't Give You Anything But Love Lyrics
by Diana Krall

I can't give you anything but love, baby
That's the only thing I've got plenty of, baby
Dream a while, scheme a while you're sure to find
Happiness and I guess all those things you've always pined for

Gee it's nice to see you looking swell, baby
Diamond bracelets Woolworth's doesn't sell, baby
Till the lucky day you know darn well,well baby
I can't give you anything but love
0 Replies
 
edgarblythe
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 07:01 pm
Beat Me Daddy, Eight To The Bar
The Andrews Sisters w/ Vic Schoen & His Orchestra

[Written by Don Raye, Hughie Prince and Eleanore Sheehy]

In a little honky-tonky village in Texas
There's a guy who plays the best piano by far
He can play piano any way that you like it
But the way he likes to play is eight to the bar
When he plays, it's a ball
He's the Daddy of them all

The people gather around when he gets on the stand
Then when he plays, he gets a hand
The rhythm he beats puts the cats in a trance
Nobody there bothers to dance
But when he plays with the bass and guitar
They holler out, beat me Daddy, eight to the bar

A-plink, a-plank, a-plink-plank, plink-plank
A-plunkin' on the keys
A-riff, a-raff, a-riff-raff, riff-raff
A-riffin' out with ease
And when he plays with the bass and guitar
They holler out, beat me Daddy, eight to the bar

He plays a boogie, he plays eight to the bar
A boogie-woogie, that is the way he likes to play on his piano
And we all know
That when he plays he puts them all in a trance
The cats all holler, hooray
You'll hear them say, beat me Daddy, eight to the bar

----- Instrumental Interlude -----

In a little honky-tonky village in Texas
There's a guy who plays the best piano by far
When he plays with the bass and guitar
They holler, beat me up Daddy
Beat me Daddy, eight to the bar

The people gather around when he gets up on the stand
Then when he plays, he gets a hand
The rhythm that he plays puts the cats in a trance
Nobody there ever bothers to dance
But when he plays with the bass and guitar
They holler out, beat me Daddy, eight to the bar

A-plink-plink, a-plank-plank
A-plink-plank, plink-plank
A-plunkin' on the keys a-riff-riff, a-raff-raff
A-riff-raff, riff-raff, a-riffin' out with ease
But when he plays with the bass and guitar
They holler out, beat me Daddy, eight to the bar
0 Replies
 
Letty
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 07:27 pm
Well, edgar. I recall my oldest sister beating that out on an upright piano, but I swear I thought that was Pig Foot Pete.

Well, I found this, folks, but I don't think it's the one:

PIG FOOT PETE
Words - Don Raye - Gene De Paul


Way out in Kansas City on one, two street, they
say that there's a guy they call Pig Foot Pete. He plays pi-
ano, by ear, and he'll
play all night for pig's feet and beer. He's
"murder" on the eighty eight, he's the
guy who brought the Boogie Woogie up to date. He's got a
cannon, in his left hand, and a ri-
fle, in his right, he's just a double barrelled
"gate", and he shoots the
eight beats to you at a fright'nin' rate.
He's just a solid "wiz", I'll tell you who he is, he's
Pig Foot Pete of Boogie Woogie's elite. His
hands are just as big as Virginia hams, and
when they go to work they're like battrin' rams, and when he
plays on, that box, the joint
rocks! Until you're beat to your sox. Wherever
boogie, is part of the plan, you'll find
Pig Foot Pete, the Boogie Woogie man.
0 Replies
 
edgarblythe
 
  1  
Reply Sat 3 Mar, 2007 08:19 am
Rehearsals for Retirement
By Phil Ochs


A G D A
The days grow longer for smaller prizes
A G D A
I feel a stranger to all surprises
Bm E A
You can have them I don't want them
C#m D
I wear a different kind of garment
F#m E
In my rehearsals for retirement

The lights are cold again they dance below me
I turn to old friends they do not know me
All but the beggar he remembers
I put a penny down for payment
In my rehearsals for retirement

D A - A7
Had I known the end would end in laughter
F#m E
I'd tell my daughter it doesn't matter

The stage is tainted with empty voices
The ladies painted they have no choices
I take my colors from the stable
They lie in tatters by the tournament
In my rehearsals for retirement

Where are the armies who killed a country
And turned a strong man into a baby
Now comes the rabble they are welcome
I wait in anger and amusement
In my rehearsals for retirement

Had I known the end would end in laughter
Still I'd tell my daughter that it doesn't matter

Farewell my own true love, farewell my fancy
Are you still owin' me love, though you failed me
But one last gesture for her pleasure
I'll paint your memory on the monument
In my rehearsals for retirement
0 Replies
 
Letty
 
  1  
Reply Sat 3 Mar, 2007 08:38 am
Mornin', edgar. Odd that you should play that Ochs song, Texas, as I rehearsed all night trying to find the REAL lyrics to Pig Foot Pete. Had a wee bit of help from my sister, but here they are.

In a little honky tonky village in Texas,
There's a man who plays the best piano by ear,
He can play piano any way that you like it,
And he'll play all night for just some pig's feet and beer

He's murder on the solid eight,
He's the man who bought the boogie woogie up to date.

He's got a cannon in his right hand,
And a rifle in his right,
He's just a solid brown killer,
And he'll shoot the eight beat to ya
At a lightning rate.

He's just a solid whiz,
I'll tell you who he is,
He's Pig Foot Pete
The boogie woogie to meet.

His hands are just as big as two Virginia hams
And when they go to work they're just like batterin' rams
And when he plays on that box,
The joint rocks,
I mean you stick to your socks

And wherever you find a boogie woogie band,
There you'll find Pig foot Pete the boogie woogie man.

They call him Pig Foot,
The boogie woogie man.
0 Replies
 
Raggedyaggie
 
  1  
Reply Sat 3 Mar, 2007 10:12 am
Good morning WA2K.

Remembering Jean Harlow today:

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h29/joisemo/Jean_Harlow_1934_2.jpghttp://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b70/Libranpoet/prettyanimatedJean.jpg

Dinner at Eight (1933)

Kitty (Harlow): I was reading a book the other day.
Carlotta (Marie Dressler) : Reading a book?
Kitty: Yes. It's all about civilization or something. A nutty kind of a book. Do you know that the guy says that machinery is going to take the place of every profession?
Carlotta: Oh, my dear, that's something you need never worry about.
0 Replies
 
TTH
 
  1  
Reply Sat 3 Mar, 2007 10:27 am
I want to dedicate this song for everyone who is MISUNDERSTOOD.

John Denver himself wrote this song (with the help of Mike Taylor). When the FCC wanted to crack down on music and it's connection to drug use, John Denver himself testified before Congress in 1985 that his song had nothing to do with drugs. It was common knowledge that John Denver did not participate in drug use.

Rocky Mountain High
John Denver
Words by John Denver; Music by John Denver and Mike Taylor

"He was born in the summer of his 27th year
Comin' home to a place he'd never been before
He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again
You might say he found a key for every door

When he first came to the mountains his life was far away
On the road and hangin' by a song
But the string's already broken and he doesn't really care
It keeps changin' fast and it don't last for long

But the colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullabye
Rocky mountain high (high colorado) rocky mountain high (high colorado)

He climbed cathedral mountains, he saw silver clouds below
He saw everything as far as you can see
And they say he got crazy once, and he tried to touch the sun
And he lost a friend but kept his memory

Now he walks in quiet solitude the forests and the streams
Seeking grace in every step he takes
His sight has turned inside himself to try and understand
The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake

And the colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
You can talk to god and listen to the casual reply
Rocky mountain high (high colorado) rocky mountain high (high colorado)

Now his life is full of wonder but his heart still knows some fear
Of a simple thing he cannot comprehend
Why they try to tear the mountains down to bring in a couple more
More people, more scars upon the land

And the colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly
Rocky mountain high

It's a colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
Friends around the campfire and everybody's high
Rocky mountain high (high colorado) rocky mountain high (high colorado)
Rocky mountain high (high colorado) rocky mountain high do de do"
0 Replies
 
 

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